


2020 Drabbles

by JoMouse



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Car Accidents, Don't copy to another site, Drabble, Drabble Collection, Less than 1K, M/M, Mechanic Liam, Meet-Cute, Paramedic Zayn Malik, Post-Break Up, Reunions
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-12
Updated: 2020-02-28
Packaged: 2021-02-27 10:54:11
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,829
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22225948
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JoMouse/pseuds/JoMouse
Summary: Greetings and salutations!I've decided to start a new Drabble collection for the year and hope to get at least one a month added to it. I will update the tags each time a post a new one.Come say hi to me on tumblr - I'm josjournal. Feel free to send me a prompt - I can be a bit slow answering them but I really do try!Enjoy!xx-JoeyDon't know 'em. Don't own 'em. Don't show 'em.
Relationships: Zayn Malik/Liam Payne
Comments: 17
Kudos: 53





	1. Ziam - Grocery Store

**Author's Note:**

> Based on this prompt: “we’re both at the grocery store at 3 am and you offered to arm wrestle me for the last box of cereal” from [this post](https://writers4ziam.tumblr.com/post/152109511424/aus-for-your-consideration).

Liam leaned on the handle of the shopping trolley, trying desperately to move it forward while it held him up. His eyelids were heavier than he ever remembered them as he blinked wearily at the boxes on the shelves around him. He'd just gotten done with a twelve-hour shift at the hospital that had him running from the second he'd clocked in until his manager had shoved him at the clock to go home. His stomach was growling and there was nothing at the flat after a week of working non-stop until he was even too tired to sleep.

He finally spotted the Weetabix, the shelves almost completely empty, save one lone box; three a.m. must be too early for stocking the shelves. He grabbed it and started to put it in the trolley when it was snatched out of his hands. Stumbling backwards and sending the trolley forward into someone, he let out a yelp as he fell to the floor.

"What the fuck?" someone said from the other side of the trolley and Liam pushed himself up to his elbows and leaned around enough to spot someone in a similar position as him. "Are you trying to kill me?"

Liam closed his eyes and groaned, the muscles in his arms too heavy from exhaustion to assist in getting to his feet. "You stole the Weetabix from me."

"I need it," the man said, managing to get to his feet, swaying slightly while he loomed over Liam.

Looking up, Liam swallowed and blinked his eyes, lifting one of his hands to rub at them. He had to have bumped his head when he went down and is hallucinating, there is no way that the man looking down at him was real. He opened his mouth to talk and let out a jaw-cracking yawn instead. "I'll arm wrestle you for it," he said.

The man laughed. "Pretty sure you'd fall asleep before we'd even count to three." The laugh turned into giggles and Liam narrowed his eyes as the man reached a hand out, wiggling his fingers at Liam. "C'mon, let's get you up."

Liam reached up and took the hand, letting himself be pulled up. He stumbled and reached out for the trolley when he was upright and felt a steadying hand on the small of his back and felt as much as heard another giggle. Turning and forcing his eyes open enough to focus on the other man's dilated pupils, he groaned. "You're high."

The man shook his head. "No, I'm Zayn," he said, giggling again. "And you're pretty."

Liam's laugh startled out of him and he realized his hand was still in Zayn's and the box of Weetabix was at their feet. He debated his chances of grabbing the box and running, but then Zayn lifted their joined hands and started turning them this way and that, his eyes running over them. "Look, as much as I'm enjoying standing here holding hands with a complete stranger, I really need to get some food and sleep." 

"Sorry, man," Zayn said, releasing his hand with a frown, giving Liam the opportunity to bend down and grab the box, but he misjudged and knocked his head on the handle of the trolley and fell to his knees, cursing and prodding at his forehead. He jumped when something cold was pressed against the injured spot.

"Peas," Zayn said, grinning when Liam looked up.

"Thank you," Liam said, holding the bag of frozen peas he recognized from his own trolley against his head with a sigh.

"Peas and thank you," Zayn repeated, giggling.

Liam couldn't stop a laugh at the silliness of the comment and Zayn's grin widened. "Can you stand up now?"

"Yeah, I think so," Liam said, letting Zayn put his hands under his elbows and help him to stand. He managed to snag the box of Weetabix as he stood up, laughing when Zayn tried to pull it out of his hand once they were standing. "C'mon, just let me have the cereal."

"Man, I  _ need _ this cereal," Zayn said, biting into his lower lip as he looked up at Liam through his lashes.

"Oh, you're good," Liam said and Zayn burst into giggles again. He looked Zayn up and down for a minute. "How about we split it?"

"How?" Zayn asked, head tilted and eyes narrowed and suspicious as Liam's smile grew. 

"You come to my place and have breakfast with me." The words were out before Liam could stop himself but he didn't regret the words when the suspicion in Zayn's eyes transformed into surprise before melting into glee, the effects of whatever he was on nearly undetectable.

"And how do I know you aren't an axe murderer?" he asked as he pushed Liam's hand and the box over Liam's trolley so that it fell inside with a soft thud.

Falling into step with each other and heading down the aisle, Liam still had a bit of shopping to do, he smirked. "What if you're the axe murderer? I mean, we already know you do drugs."

"Just pot," Zayn said. "I could lie and say I have a prescription for treating my depression, but it's really self-medicating." His tone was defensive enough that Liam felt obligated to apologize, but Zayn brushed it off. "It's all good. The breakfast offer still on the table?"

They stopped in the dairy section and grabbed a litre of milk, adding it to the trolley. "Of course,” Liam responded, heading to the registers, Zayn right next to him, their shoulders bumping.


	2. Ziam - Jury Duty

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Based on this prompt from an anon on tumblr: Ok I have a prompt for Ziam. It goes: Zayn and his ex-husband or boyfriend liam who he hasn't seen in couple of years suddenly got jury duty together and that's how they reconnect.

Liam took his ID back from the clerk and followed his instructions to reach the waiting room. Out of habit, he reached for his phone, but he’d left it in the car, afraid of having it confiscated when he entered the courthouse. Instead, he fidgeted with the small paperback he’d brought with him, hoping he’d get caught up on some reading that he’d been wanting to do for months but hadn’t had time or energy for.

He reached the waiting room, smiling at the old lady in the corner who looked up from her knitting needles to greet him before returning to whatever she was creating out of the fluffy yarn filling her lap. Flipping the pages of his book and apologizing when the woman looked up at him, he took a seat in the opposite corner, back to the wall where he could see the entryway to the area. He looked up at the clock on the wall and groaned when he calculated that he could be here for up to ten more hours unless they dismissed him right away. 

He loved jury duty. As a concept, but as a personal practice, he was not a fan.

About five minutes of looking between the clock, the woman and his unopened book passed before he heard footsteps in the hallway and the soothing clacking of the needles suddenly stopped followed by the old woman calling out another friendly greeting. Looking up at the doorway, his body simultaneously froze and broke into a sweat at the sight of the person standing there. Of all the people in the district to have jury duty at the same time as him, it had to be his ex-boyfriend, the one that got away. Their eyes met and just like the first time, Liam couldn’t look away.

Zayn didn’t know if he wanted to run out of the room or across it. He hadn’t seen Liam since that night in the rain when a small argument had blown up between them until he’d choked out two words he regretted before they’d even faded into the wind.

_ “It’s over.” _

He remained frozen for so long, the people that had been coming down the hall behind him pushed past him into the room and his legs moved of their own volition, leading him over to stand in front of Liam, who was still gaping. His fingers itched to run over the beard that covered Liam’s chin, a new addition since that night but he shoved his hands in the pockets of his jacket and rocked on his heels, eyes still locked with Liam’s.

“Is this seat taken?” he asked, gesturing to the empty one right next to Liam, his voice rough and barely above a whisper. Liam snapped his mouth shut and shrugged, finally breaking eye contact as Zayn dropped into the seat, careful not to brush up against him. 

Once seated, he reached into the inside pocket of his jacket and pulled out the paperback he’d brought to occupy himself. He opened to where he’d left off, removing the ticket stub he’d used and staring at it. He’d grabbed it off his nightstand without thinking about it; it was the one from his first date with Liam and he hadn’t even thought about it since putting it there after that date. He twirled it between his fingers, glancing up to find Liam watching the movement, a tight smile on his face and sadness in his eyes. 

“So…” Zayn started, putting the ticket back into his book and closing it.

Liam waited for him to continue and when he didn’t he, asked, “How are you?” unsure where the casualness of his tone came from, but grateful for it nonetheless.

“Good,” Zayn responded, nodding his head and sounding anything but. “You?”

Liam knew he should lie, keep the casual small talk going, just tell him that he was great. Tell him that life went on without him even better than it had with him, but secrets and lies never did either of them any good. “Terrible,” he finally admitted and Zayn’s face crumbled.

“Me, too,” he said. “I should’ve called…”

“Phone goes both ways, but I was so-”

“I know. Me, too,” Zayn interrupted. “I’m an idiot.”

“We’re idiots,” Liam told him. “Do you thi-”

He was cut off by the appearance of a bailiff who called out a list of numbers and Liam checked to see that his wasn’t included. Zayn grinned and shook his head when half of the room followed the bailiff out. “Guess we’re stuck here for a bit longer.”

Liam couldn’t fight the grin on his face as Zayn bumped their shoulders together. “Guess we are.” He frowned when Zayn suddenly stood up and walked out of the room. “What the-”

Zayn came back in a moment later and crossed the room towards Liam, moving with purpose and stopping in front of him. “Hi, mate. My name’s Zayn and I’m an absolute wanker, but I’d like to hang out with you.”

Liam burst out laughing at the familiarity of the words, the same ones Zayn had said to him the day they’d met at a mutual friend’s birthday party. He’d been endeared then and he was even more so now as he spoke his next line in the script. “Well, Zayn, I’m Liam and I’m known to have a terrible soft spot for absolute wankers, so why don’t you join me?”


	3. Ziam - Bus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zayn and Liam meet on a crowded bus.
> 
> Tags: Motor Vehicle Accident, Meet-Cute, Mechanic!Liam, Paramedic!Zayn

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Based on this prompt from my favourite Nonny over on tumblr aka Little Angel: Accidentally fell in your lap while standing on this crowded bus. Ziam please ~LA

Liam was already exhausted when he caught the bus, hoping desperately for a place to sit and groaning when he saw that every seat was taken, along with most of the standing areas. He spotted an opening near the back of the bus and squeezed through the crowd, apologizing when he stepped on feet and making a silly face at a toddler in his mom’s arms that swatted at him when he got too close. Finally, he grabbed the bar between a grumpy man in a suit and a teenager who looked like she wanted to be anywhere else.

Liam distracted himself by watching the other people on the bus, starting at the front and working back, wiggling his fingers at the toddler who was waving at him when he caught him looking. He heard a chuckle next to him and looked down at the guy sitting right next to him. Hazel eyes looked up at him and Liam had to catch his breath as he took in the rest of his face, the chiselled cheekbones and long lashes. 

_ “God, he’s pretty,” _ Liam thought.

“Got a little friend?” the man asked, and Liam followed his gaze back to the toddler who was still waving and blew a kiss at Liam. 

Liam chuckled. “What can I say? Kids adore me.”

“I can see why,” the man said. “You look like a giant teddy bear.” Liam’s cheeks warmed and he ducked his head. “Aw, did I embarrass you, Teddy?”

“M’name’s Liam,” he mumbled.

“Well, Leeyum,” he said, drawing out his name in a way that sent warmth through him, “I’m Zayn.”

“Nice to meet ya,” Liam said as the bus came to stop and he swayed on his feet, checking for empty spots, but looking at Zayn, he found he didn’t mind standing for a bit longer.

“Long day?” Zayn asked, looking over Liam’s jeans that he’d managed to keep clean thanks to the coveralls at work.

His shirt hadn’t fared as well thanks to the heat of the garage and he tried to inconspicuously sniff to make sure his deodorant hadn’t stopped working as he shrugged in response.

“Any plans for your Friday night?”

It was a bit of a personal question for a stranger, but Liam answered anyway. “Shower and sleep.” He chuckled when Zayn frowned. “Lame, I know.”

“Nah, sounds nice, actually. I’m babysitting for my sister.” He arched his back and pulled his phone out of his pocket and tapped the screen a few times before turning it toward Liam, showing him a photo of an adorable baby girl with dark hair and wide eyes. “My niece.”

“Beautiful,” Liam said. “Like uncle, like niece.” The words were out before he could stop himself and he suddenly wished for the bottom of the bus to open up and suck him out and away from his humiliation.

Instead, he heard the bus driver swear and the bus jerked forward, Liam’s sweaty grip sliding off the bar and he stumbled forward. He managed to catch himself against one of the vertical bars but then there was a bump from the back of the bus and he lost his balance, falling again and landing on something softer than the floor that let out a soft ‘oof’ on contact.

Catching his breath, Liam opened his eyes and looked around the bus. There were several people on the floor, his little buddy was crying in his mother’s arms and as he searched for Zayn to be sure his new friend was alright, he discovered that the softness he’d landed on was Zayn’s lap. 

“Alright?” he asked. “Of course you’re not, some stranger is nearly giving you a lap dance. Stupid, Liam,” he muttered, trying to right himself to stand, but Zayn’s arms wrapping around his middle stopped him.

“Just stay still,” Zayn said, his tone authoritative. “You might be injured.” With those words, he found Zayn holding a flashlight up to his eyes. “Follow my finger.”

“What are you doing?” he asked.

“Making sure you’re not concussed,” Zayn responded. “You seem alright.” He helped move Liam off his lap and stood and for the first time, Liam saw he was wearing a medic’s uniform under his leather jacket. “Come help me,” he directed and led Liam over to the crying toddler and Liam saw the mother’s head was bleeding slightly. 

He talked to the woman and managed to get her to give up the baby and hand him over to Liam, who took him and bounced him, talking gibberish until he was smiling again and patting Liam’s cheeks. He kept him occupied until more paramedics came onto the bus and Zayn took him, giving him to a paramedic that was helping his mom off the bus.

Soon enough, the bus was empty and Liam was standing on the pavement, watching trucks taking away the other vehicles from the accident and before he knew it, Zayn was standing in front of him, waving a hand in front of his face. “Maybe you should get checked out,” he said, waving over another of the medics and the man led him into the back of an ambulance, asking him questions.

Liam was cleared a few hours later and he headed out to catch another bus, even though the thought made him ill. He froze when he saw Zayn leaning against a light pole, pushing off when he spotted Liam. “All good?”

“Don’t you have to babysit?” Liam asked.

“Accident made me late. My sister cancelled her plans. So, I’m free,” he said, smiling. “Was hoping maybe some teddy bear looking stranger might offer to finish his lap dance.”

Liam could feel the fire on his cheeks. “How about we start with dinner?” Zayn grinned and headed towards the bus stop and Liam froze. “Maybe we should walk?”

“Alright,” Zayn said, offering his hand to Liam who took it and led him down the street towards the nearest eatery.


End file.
